Elephants escape St. Louis circus

ST. LOUIS (KSDK) -- Three elephants escaped the Shrine Circus at St. Louis' Family Arena Saturday afternoon and roamed the parking lot, damaging multiple cars.

In a statement, the Shrine Circus said handlers were able to occupy the animals, and "they are now resting comfortably in their compound at this time."

Witnesses say the elephants were spooked by loud noises when they ran off.

"We saw all these people running after them, and they were all screaming 'Stop, stop,' and several of the circus people were trying to run alongside them," said Karyn Tunnicliff, who was in a car outside of the arena with her daughter when it happened.